Wednesday, 31 December 2014

2014 has been a fantastic year for music, hasn't it? I have enjoyed so many songs so I thought I'd share some of my favourites. Enjoy!!

6th: Samanta Tina - Stay
Samanta Tina has been trying for many years to represent Latvia and unfortunately 2014 wasn't her year. She placed 3rd in the Latvian national final. She always sounds and looks fantastic. This blogger would love to see her represent the Baltic nation. Her semi-final performance was perfect...

5th: Michael Rune feat. Natascha Bessez - Wanna Be Loved
Danish saxophonist Michael Rune and American beauty Natascha Bessez entered the Danish selection and came 2nd. I was gutted when they didn't win. Their song was fantastic. Amazing lyrics, great chorus and they could've been one of my favourites in Eurovision 2014. This is probably my most played song of 2014.

4th: Valentina Monetta - Maybe
Valentina Monetta finally brought San Marino into the final for the first time ever and Maybe will always have a special place in my heart. We have all followed Valentina on her 'Eurovision journey' and to see her successful, on the third attempt, well it was delightful! No one deserved it more than Vale! And I was lucky enough to interview her back in April. Check that out here.

3th: Ruth Lorenzo - Gigantes
Ruth Lorenzo released a fantastic album in October. My favourite song from that album is Gigantes along with her Eurovision entry, Dancing In The Rain. This blogger has loved Ruth since The X Factor 2008. Defiantly an amazing song that could've been top five in Eurovision and even a potential winner.....

2nd: The Common Linnets - Broken But Home
Conchita may have won Eurovision although The Common Linnets were the most successful following the contest, as their Eurovision song charted in 20 countries and even achieved #9 in the UK charts. It was absolutely awesome hearing their song on the radio. Meanwhile, many non-Eurovision fans even praised the song showing that there's more to the contest than just shouty ballads and bubblegum pop - they did a marvelous job. This blogger purchased their their album and my favourite song from that album was Broken But Home. The best album of 2014 of sure.

1st: Emma - La mia città!
Many people won't agree with me here but La mia città is the best song of 2014 by far and without a doubt my favourite - I adore it! The Italian entry didn't fare very well in the contest though but I don't care, Emma did a marvelous job. Her song was a domestic hit and was certificated Gold. I LOVE THIS SONG!!

Thank you to everyone who has followed this blog throughout 2014 and has supported me. Happy New Year!

Tuesday, 30 December 2014

Elhaida Dani has revealed that she is most likely to translate Diell into English although it isn't official yet. Probably a good decision. The song will also undergo major changes and the finished product will be doubt be revealed in March. Should Elhaida Dani keep her song in Albanian or translate it into English, where more people will understand the lyrics?

Monday, 29 December 2014

Russia is one of the few remaining countries who are yet to reveal any official details regarding their selection process. Although some media outlets reported some months ago that The Voice of Russia winner will go to Eurovision. This method was used in 2013, when Dina Garipova won the show and then was internally selected to represent the country. In the end she came 5th - will this method be used again? This years edition concluded a couple of days ago and Alexandra Vorobyova won with 55.4% of the votes. Will she be the chosen one? Listen to her cover of Chandelier.

Meanwhile, other rumours suggest that domestic popstar Sergey Lazarev will fly the Russian flag. Apparently he was asked to represent Russia in Copenhagen although decided not to accept the offer due to obvious reasons... He is rumoured every year but will it finally be true next year? Is it only speculation? Enjoy his latest single, and possible Eurovision entry, below:

Sergey Lazarev or Alexandra Vorobyova or someone else for Russia? Who knows...

Sunday, 28 December 2014

As expected, Elhaida Dani won the 53rd edition of Festivali i Këngës and therefore will indeed represent Albania in Vienna. Elhaida Dani won The Voice of Italy and also competed in Festivali i Këngës some years ago although wasn't as successful. Linda Halimi's song was probably my personal favourite but it wasn't to be. She came 3rd. RTSH put together a fantastic show tonight and the contest did consist of so many good songs. Did the best song win? Not sure, although the best voice defiantly won. With some work and an English translation - I bet Albania can be a contender however it didn't make an impression on me at first.. Hmm. But I wish her the best of luck! It is a good song and Italy are sure to award her points come May. The top three:

EMA will once again be used to determine the Slovene entry for Eurovision 2015 and the national final has been set for 28th February. The participants are due to be revealed in the coming weeks. 12 acts are due to compete. Six acts will be invited to take park by RTVSLO and the other six will be chosen through open submissions. Moldova, Hungary and Lithuania will also choose their entry on the same date.

Alexander Rybak was due to make an appearance in Albania's national final tonight although he's decided not to perform on the show because of recent events. MILKI's song was composed by Rybak and despite being tipped to win by a landslide, they only came 4th. However it's worth mentioning Accent didn't win the televote either, so it isn't just the juries who let him down. Straight after the results were announced in Belarus, he released a video stating:

I go on tour to many places around the world and everywhere Europeans say so much dirt about my homeland, Belarus. And I defend it, defend it. I say that it has a good system. And they say, “What kind of system? It’s all bought/ bribed” And I keep defending it. But I don’t even know anymore what I am defending. Every year, I meet the Belarussian delegation and they keep saying, “Sasha, please, write us a song. What do we need to do to win in Eurovision?” And so I wrote a song, spent so much time, so much money. I found some unique and talented girls and I wrote a song about pure and authentic Belarus, how I see it. And then the jury failed it. I even sacrificed by not celebrating Christmas with my parents. But it’s not even about that. Everywhere in Europe, people supported us; experts; fans of Eurovision, and here the jury decided to fail us. I saw this jury before. I’ve met everyone. I remember when I was sick, one guy from the jury came and said to take a picture, one chance with the kids. I smiled and took a picture and he said, “We will always support you.” And this is how they support, yeah? I really hope that I will never again see this jury because it will be very difficult to pretend that I’m happy and that I want to smile.

Lithuania's selection is almost underway and the twelve competing participating acts were presented last week.. You may recognise some names here as Mia, Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila all took part in the Lithuanian marathon last year and Mia even came 2nd. Here's the full line-up:

Liepa Mondeikaité

Neringa Šiaudikytė

Edgaras Lubys (Amberlife)

Mia

Vaidas Baumila

Monika Linkyté

Reda Striškaitė

Milita Daikeryté

Jurgis Bruzga

Wilma La

Tadas Juodsnukis

Rollikai

"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka will kick off on 3rd January where the acts will sing cover songs. I see Laurita didn't make it.....

Albania will continue the national final season tonight as Festivali i Këngës concludes! I've had a quick listen to the songs and I have three immediate favourties. These are; Elhaida Dani, Lindita Halimi and Rezarta Smaja. Either of them winning would see this blogger very happy. Eighteen acts will participate and the winner will be chosen by a special jury alone.

Saturday, 27 December 2014

Onto some sadder news here. Austrian crooner and Eurovision winner, Udo Juergens, died on 20th December at the age of 80 due to acute heart failure. My thoughts naturally go out to his family, friends and fans. Let's remind ourselves of his Eurovision entry from 1966. RIP Udo.

The participants for Georgia's upcoming national selection were revealed some days ago. Five acts are in the running and they are:

Misha Sulukhia

Nina Sublati

Eter Beriashvili

“Niutone”

Edvard Meison

The songs will be revealed on New Years Eve. Voting will open the following day and the Georgian public will have two weeks to select their favourite song. The juries votes will be revealed during the national final on 14th January and then we'll have a winner! This blogger hopes Georgia gets their act together next year after such a poor result in Copenhagen....

Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler, Arabella Kiesbauer and Conchita Wurst will host Eurovision 2015. Conchita will be in the greenroom. Mirjam Weichselbraun is a popular TV Presenter and actress. She has also presented several awards shows including the MTV European Music Awards. Alice Tumler speaks multiple languages including French and has presenting many shows in Austria. Arabella Kiesbauer's career started back in the 1980's and has hosted many shows in Germany and native Austria. Apart from presenting, she's also an Ambassador for Integration at the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Integration. This is the first time that four females will host the show... and I am sure they'll do a grand job!

Whilst this blogger was enjoying the winter sun, it was announced that a total of 39 countries will be present in Vienna. Ukraine's withdrawal is official. They won't participate after all. Nor will Croatia or Bulgaria. Many hoped Bulgaria would make a return, after being so successful in Junior Eurovision, although it wasn't to be. On a brighter note; the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Serbia are returning to our beloved contest. The Cypriot and Serbian selections are already underway. Israel will also be present following numerous withdrawal rumours. Here's the full line-up for next years contest:

Belarus held their national final last night where Uzari & Maimuna won the right to represent the country in Vienna. Listen to their song here. Is it time for Belarus to win Eurovision? Not with this song, I'm afraid. Many people love it, many hate it - I'm indifferent to this one. It looked pretty good live and he sounded great although I'm not sure if the song is strong enough. Fan favourites MILKI only managed a disappointing 4th place. Isn't it ironic that Alexander Rybak lost to a song with a violin instrumental? Belarus still reserve the right to change the song and even the artists (it's been done before...) before March!

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

It's the most wonderful time of the year.... this blogger wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope y'all have an amazing time! Unfortunately, I won't be able to update the blog until 27th December so I'll miss Belarus's national final but MILKI for the win! Until then ;-)

Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Six acts qualified for the Swiss national final last week and I've decided to review them. I did the same last with the Swiss finalists and you can read that here. Enjoy.. and feel free to leave a comment as I'd love to hear what you guys think!

Deborah Bough - Take Me Back to 23

Deborah Bough is aiming to represent with Take Me Back to 23. An uptempo number - and her live vocals were fantastic! In 2013, Deborah was on The Voice of Switzerland and managed to make the final 12. Her song is catchy and I like it very much. Could she win? I'd like to think so but realistically, probably not! 8/12

Licia Chery - Fly
I must admit, I didn't really like Fly when I first heard it although it's grown on me. Licia's performance during the Expect Check was fantastic but I don't think it is strong enough to win.. 5/12

Tiziana - Only HumanOnly Human is Tiziana's song and she's one of the favourites to win. It's a gentel ballad and a very pleasant one however there is a problem. She has her eyes closed most of the time when performing and therefore can't connect with the audience - could that cost her victory? She is popular though because she won The Voice of Switzerland 2014. Winner? If she performs it well, then yes! 7/12

Timebelle - Singing About Love
Timebelle consists of six members from four different counties; Switzerland, Serbia, Romania and Hungary. They're a multicultural band, y'all! I love their entry. Singing About Love is one of my favourites and I think they could win. That saxophone is fabulous and it's very catchy. 8/12

Andy McSean - Hey Now
Andy McSean is the only guy in Switzerland's national final - is this an advantage for him? His song, Hey Now, isn't necessarily my personal favourite but I think it will appeal to people and therefore could be a dark horse. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this live! Probably not a winner, though. 4/12

Mélanie René - Time To ShineTime To Shine is another song I love! Mélanie René could be a winner if the stage presentation is good enough - I hope it will appeal to the Swiss public and juries. The Genevan born singer has actually appeared on Romanian television before and I hope she will win! Best of luck!! 8/12

Switzerland's selection is once again pretty decent! I'd be delighted if either Timebelle, Deborah Bough or Mélanie René won. I also wouldn't be too disappointed with Tiziana either however the other two aren't strong enough to win, but you never know with Switzerland... The Swiss entry will be chosen on 31st January and I cannot wait!!

Monday, 15 December 2014

Details regarding the Spanish selection for Vienna will be revealed next month. There's still a chance that a national final will be used to determine the Spanish representative but I'm hearing an internal selection is more likely at the moment. More details in January. I can't wait to see who they iwill send! Pastora Soler, ESDM and Ruth Lorenzo were all fantastic in my opinion so I'm very hopeful for another great entry from Spain.

Sunday, 14 December 2014

Following endless speculation, the line-up for Sanremo 2015 was revealed today! It's a very mixed and interesting line-up, that's for sure. Sanremo opened their doors for international artists to compete and therefore Lara Fabian will participate. Lara Fabian is a pleasant surprise - she represented Luxembourg in 1988 and finished 4th. I really didn't expect to see her compete. This blogger is mostly excited to hear the songs from Annalisa, Dear Jack, Nina Zilli, Nek, Anna Tatangelo and Lara Fabian. One of them will represent Italy in Vienna but who? Here's the full list of participants:

Annalisa Scarrone - Una finestra fra le stelle

Malika Ayane - Adesso e qui

Marco Masini - Che giorno è

Chiara Galiazzo - Straordinario

Gianluca Grignani - Sogni infranti

Nek - Fatti avanti amore

Nina Zilli - Sola

Dear Jack - Il mondo explode

Alex Britti - Un attimo importante

Biggio & Mandelli (I soliti Idioti) - Vita d'inferno

Moreno - Oggi ti parlo cosi

Bianca Atzei - Il solo al mondo

Raf - Come una favola

Lara Fabian - Voce

Grazia Di Michele & Platinette (Mauro Coruzzi) - Io sono una finestra

Il Volo - Grande amore

Anna Tatangelo - Libera

Nesli - Buona fortuna amore

Irene Grandi - Un vento senza nome

Lorenzo Fragola - Siamo Uguali

...and these acts will compete in the Newcomers Category. It's unlikely one of these will fly the Italian flag but it could happen!

Saturday, 13 December 2014

Last night, Trijntje Oosterhuis performed Walk Along live on The Voice of Holland. She gave a very strong performance. Ilse was clearly having a ball and the song topped yesterdays daily iTunes chart in The Netherlands. It's looking very good once again for the Dutchies! Watch her performance below:

Mariya Yaremchuk has ditched her hamster wheel and released a song which translates to Against The Wind. Mariya wrote the song when she was only 12 years old. It's very beautiful and it makes me wish Ukraine didn't withdraw... Sergey Lazarev is tipped to represent Russia next year with the song Breaking Away. Apparently, he was going to fly the Russian flag last year but pulled out last minute. Would he be a good choice? Lazarev is one of Russia's biggest stars at the moment. Meanwhile, the beautiful Lidia Kopania has released a new song. Pod słowami is a decent song with a fantastic video-clip to match. And the last song I'll share before Christmas is Come in un film by Modà and Emma Marrone. A fabulous song from these Italian superstars :-)

The Spanish representative for Vienna will be announced very soon and Edurne is the hot favourite to be selected. She's been trending in Spain and Spanish press are speculating that she's been chosen to sucseed Ruth Lorenzo.. Edurne is not only a singer, but also a TV presenter. She has been hosting the Spanish show 'Todo va bien' but it's been confirmed she'll leave that role to focus on music. Many regard her as the Lady Gaga of Spain. She plans to record a new CD very soon and it will be produced by Tony Sánchez-Ohlsson. Interestingly, he composed Quédate conmigo and Más (Run). An announcement is due very soon!

Thursday, 11 December 2014

Linda Martin is apparently interested in representing Ireland in Eurovision once again. She would only be willing to compete in the contest if Johnny Logan dueted with her, though. Here's what she said:

Believe it or not, for the hardcore Eurovision fans, the ultimate dream is Johnny Logan and myself doing a duet. Now that’s easier said than done, but of course I’d love to sing with Johnny, he’s a great pal of mine.

Hmm... Would you like to see her and Johnny Logan fly the Irish flag once again?

Austria's 2014 Eurovision winning song, Rise Like A Phoenix, has today gone platinum in Austria. Conchita Wurst's song has sold over 30,000 copies in Austria alone. Conchita was congratulated by Dr. Alexander Wrabetz, the General Director of ORF, and said this shows the importance of human tolerance and diversity. Congratulations, Conchita!!

Trijntje Oosterhuis's song for Vienna is entitled Walk Along and was revealed this morning. Listen to it here. The general reaction seems to be very good - could the Dutch be contenders for victory next year? Regarding her participation, Trijntje said:

It is really cool that Anouk and The Common Linnets did it. Now i'm daring!I find it exciting, but it is also an honour to represent our country.

..and regarding the song itself, she said:

It is really catchy. I guess it's different to what you usually expect from me, but I have an ambition to win and give it my all.

. This blogger loves her song! I think The Netherlands can achieve top ten in Vienna..

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

This blogger is a bit behind regarding the Swiss selection. Opps. Anyway, the Expect Check round took place on Sunday and six finalists were chosen to compete in the Swiss national final on 31st January. I will review the songs at some point - Deborah Bough and Mélanie René are my immediate favourites though. It's actually not a bad bunch of songs.

Ten more acts for A Dal 2015 were revealed today by the Hungarian broadcaster - therefore twenty semi-finalists are now known. Kati Wolf is aiming to represent Hungary with Ne engedj el! and I'm thrilled to see her back. Fool Moon are also retuning to the Hungarian selection. The reaming ten participants will be revealed soon.

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

According to Detrasdelatele, the Spanish represenataive will be internally selected. An announcement is expected in the coming days. Spain selected their participants in 2012 and 2013 internally although reverted to an national final for Copenhagen. Pablo Alborán is rumoured every year.. will he finally be the chosen one?

The grand final of A Dal 2015 will be held on 28th February. Heats will take place on 24th January, 31st January and 7th February - and the semi finals will be held on 14th February and 21st. February. Many are predicted it's only a matter of time until Hungary win the contest. Thirty acts in total will compete in the Hungarian selection and ten participating acts were revealed yesterday. These are:

Saturday, 6 December 2014

Auditions took place in Belarus on Thursday and Friday where 89 acts performed in front of a jury - and they picked the best 15 to compete in the upcoming national final on 26th December. Here they are:

Gunesh

Janet

Aliaksei Hros

Darya

Valeria Sadovskaya

UZARI & MAIMUMA

MILKI

Yana Butskevich & Muzzart

Beatrys

Napoli

Tasha ODI

Lis

Rostany

Anastasia Malashkevich

Vital' Varanko

Many familiar names in the line-up once again including; Janet, Napoli, Alexey Gross, Gunesh and UZARI & MAIMUMA. Let's just say there was some unique acts in the auditions that didn't make it....

Thursday, 4 December 2014

Trijntje Oosterhuis will release her Eurovision entry on 11th December. The song will be premiered on NPO Radio 2’s show Gouden Uren at 9:00 CET. Anouk said it's a "catchy and awesome song with great vocals." Maybe it's a little early to release their song? Eurovision is over five months away.. but I'm very excited and interested to see what Anouk and Trijntje have come up with.

MILKI's song for Eurofest 2015, the Belorussian national final, has been released this morning. Alexander Rybak composed the song and you can listen to it here. It's already getting some hate but this blogger adores it! I'd love to see them represent Belarus. Auditions are currently being held and the national finalists will be announced very soon indeed. I'll do a little review once the finalists are chosen - as I won't be able to watch Belarus's national final on 26th December.

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Georgia will hold a national final on 14th January, to select their representative for Vienna. Anyone interested in competing has until 20th December to send in their songs. More details will be revealed later.

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Pastora Soler announced on her Facebook page yesterday that she's taking a break from her music career, due to confidence issues. The 2012 Spanish representative is suffering from severe stage fright and actually fainted at the weekend in Malaga because of this.. Pastora also had to cancel some parts of her tour earlier in the year and it's now affecting her throat. Here's the statement in English:

I speak from a heart broken by pain, impotence and with this worry that I feel, and I feel that it will take a long time to forget. As I said last night, the respect for my audience is the biggest thing I’ve learnt in these 20 years. I put everything in my power to overcome this stage fright which came into my life on the 8th of March this year, and I thought it had passed, but last night it happened again in Malaga, in front of an audience to which I owe so much, and at a land that I feel my own, my strength failed me again, this time affecting even my throat. I can’t thank you enough for your love and understanding, and I have to tell you that I haven’t got any strength left to continue. I should have taken the decision to put my career aside a few months ago, but my desire to fight pushed me to go on. Today I have to announce my decision to leave my professional activity until I have regained my self-confidence.I’m sorry with all my heart.Pastora Soler

I naturally wish Pastora all the best and I really hope she will return to the music scene soon. #TodosConPastora.

Austria's selection will feature a total of sixteen acts and these acts were revealed earlier today. This blogger doesn't recognize any of these artists but I naturally wish them all the very best of luck. Live shows start in February, with the grand final set for 13th March. Only six acts will make the final itself.

Monday, 1 December 2014

On 7th December, eighteen acts will perform in front of a special jury all hoping to make the Swiss national final on 31st January. Only six will make the final. Unfortunately, Kitty Brucknell's song wasn't selected for the Expect Check round despite being a major favourite. This blogger was absolutely gutted - I was even lucky enough to interview her a few weeks ago.